


what we deserve

by harlelover, spiritshipping



Series: Smilesaku2019 [1]
Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Crushes, Family Dynamics, Fluff, LetsMakeYusakuSmile2019, M/M, Smilesaku2019, Teasing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-10
Updated: 2019-05-10
Packaged: 2020-02-29 09:45:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,151
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18775750
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/harlelover/pseuds/harlelover, https://archiveofourown.org/users/spiritshipping/pseuds/spiritshipping
Summary: Staring at the food before him, then to Takeru’s grandparents, Yusaku was all too aware that he couldn’t remember having a family meal. Ever.-after everything is over, takeru invites yusaku to his home. written for #Smilesaku2019, prompt 1: link.





	what we deserve

**Author's Note:**

> as always, thank you to ao3 user datastorm for helping me write this! i couldn't have finished this without him! he is truly The Voice of Takeru Homura. 
> 
> content warning for takeru talking about his suicidal ideation (it's not that detailed, though). but! this ends happy so i hope you all enjoy it!

The past few months had been filled with experiences Yusaku never thought he’d have in his life. Dueling for the fate of Link VRAINS and the world at large was something he would take on without a second thought, but having a proper dinner, sitting across from Takeru’s grandparents was unimaginable. The fear couldn’t be compared to the fear he felt when he lost Ai, and especially not to the fear he felt during the Lost Incident, but at least Yusaku had learned to cope with those situations. He knew how to keep moving forward to a better future. Now that he was at that future, he didn’t know how to handle it. Matters of the heart were not Yusaku’s strong suit.

 

Staring at the food before him, then to Takeru’s grandparents, Yusaku was all too aware that he couldn’t remember having a family meal. Ever. 

 

It shouldn’t have been that hard, though, right? Eat, speak when spoken to, just like he did with Kusanagi-san. But the meal hadn’t been the main focus then. It certainly had never been like something that came directly from daytime television. 

 

“Yusaku,” He looked up upon hearing Takeru’s grandmother’s voice. Since Takeru called Yusaku by his given name, he’d told his grandmother that she could call him that, too. It was something that Flame and Ai had started, but Yusaku found he didn’t mind. “I know that you and Takeru go to the same school, but I still haven’t heard how you two met.”

 

Naturally, Takeru didn’t tell her, to spare both his own and Yusaku’s identities. Yusaku had to navigate carefully answering, but that didn’t mean he had to outright lie. “He cornered me in a classroom.”

 

Takeru’s grandparents had expressions somewhere between shock and confusion before settling to something grim. Takeru made an indescribable noise, looking between his grandparents and Yusaku before shouting, “That’s not what happened!”

 

Everyone’s eyes were on Takeru.

 

“I - I mean…” Takeru’s face reddened, and he averted his eyes.  _ Cute _ , Yusaku thought, followed by a resonate  _ no _ . “It did, but, it’s not how it sounds, really…”

 

“How did it happen, then?” Takeru’s grandfather’s tone was decidedly careful, but Yusaku could feel the tension. Maybe he went a little too far.

 

“He just wanted to talk to me,” Yusaku interjected. He noticed Takeru glance up at him from his peripheral. He started to ramble, wondering what was coming over him. “But we aren’t in the same class, so he had to catch me before the day started. He was very friendly.”

 

“I see,” Takeru’s grandfather replied, visibly relaxing. Yusaku knew only a bit of Takeru’s life after the incident, and knew that he struggled just like Yusaku, but he couldn’t help feeling concerned. Takeru was getting better now, but… 

 

“I’m glad you and Takeru have become good friends,” Takeru’s grandmother smiled. Yusaku felt something stir in his chest. Something akin to happiness, but filled him with a sense of dread.

 

Still, Yusaku shared her sentiment, and felt that Takeru should know that as well. “So am I.”

 

“Ah, grandma, don’t say something so embarrassing!” Takeru squeaked, putting his utensils down and waving his hands. “You’re gonna make Yusaku uncomfortable, too--”

 

“It’s fine, honey,” She cooed, giving Takeru a smile that made Yusaku feel warm and sick to his stomach at the same time. It shouldn’t make him feel that way. Was he that averse to human relations? No, that wasn’t it; Kusanagi-san teased both him and Takeru all the time. The room felt so close all of a sudden, and his mind was screaming for him to get out. He couldn’t do this right now. He didn’t want Takeru’s grandparents to see him like that; he didn’t want to worry Takeru.

 

Yusaku stood up, and with a hoarse, “Excuse me,” left the room.

 

* * *

  
  


“ _ Yusaku _ ,” Ai lilted, resting his elbows on the edge of the duel disk that rested on the railing. “What was that about?”

 

Yusaku felt the breeze against his face, already helping the tightness in his chest. He wasn’t trapped. Still, he couldn’t shake his apprehension. “I don’t know.”

 

Ai hummed, seemingly unsatisfied, but he didn’t press Yusaku. He was telling the truth, or so he thought. He wasn’t sure what bothered him about Takeru’s grandmother’s smile, or the teasing between grandparents and grandson. Sure, being in social situations always made Yusaku uneasy, but this felt like more than that. He was seconds away from a panic attack in their dining room. He disrupted a nice family dinner, and surely made Takeru worry. It was shameful.

 

“Yusaku--”

 

“--Takeru--” He turned to face Takeru, whose face -- of course -- was etched with worry. Yusaku tried to swallow his guilt. “I didn’t mean--”

 

“--No, no, don’t apologize! It’s okay!” Takeru gave a smile that served to make Yusaku feel even worse. “I get it, I do. I just want to know what’s wrong. But if you don’t want to tell me, that’s fine…”

 

Yusaku averted his eyes. He didn’t want to worry Takeru, but he didn’t want Takeru to think that he was withholding things, either. But he truly didn’t know what happened. “I just...got overwhelmed.” 

 

“...Is it okay if I stand next to you?”

 

Takeru was always so considerate. He never pressured Yusaku into anything, always made sure he was comfortable before he did anything, even things that people normally wouldn’t think about. It was something that came not only from being a child of the Lost Incident, but as friends who had grown together after fighting against the end of the world. 

 

Yusaku nodded. 

 

Takeru moved to stand beside him, placing his duel disk next to Yusaku’s.

 

“For a long time, I thought I was alone.” Takeru looked ahead of him, so Yusaku did the same. He felt like he should give Takeru at least that bit of privacy. He didn’t divulge much information about his past, and Yusaku didn’t want him to feel uncomfortable doing so. “I pushed everyone away. My childhood friend, my grandparents, and anyone else that tried to reach out to me. I was too busy fighting a battle inside myself to accept anyone around me. My parents died because they were searching for  _ me _ . I was...angry. Angry with the world, but mostly with myself. So I fought. Punched my walls, punched people’s faces. Instead of making my pain go away, all it did was inflict more pain onto my grandparents. They lost their son and daughter, you know? Then their grandson was disappearing before their eyes. And I couldn’t help but think they’d just be better off without me. If I just...disappeared, they wouldn’t have to watch their grandson slowly vanish, too. Like tearing off a band-aid. It’ll hurt, but just for a second. Then they could go on with their lives. But...that’s not how it works with people, no matter how I feel about myself.”

 

There wasn’t anything Yusaku could say to that. He didn’t want to interrupt Takeru, either, so he stayed silent. He hated that Takeru felt that way, that he had to go through so much pain, but he was comforted in the fact that he wasn’t alone. 

 

“You’re probably sick of hearing it, but you saved me. Not just Playmaker. Flame...and you, Yusaku. I can’t deny that you’re a hero, and the duelist I look up to the most. But before all of that, you’re my friend. That’s what’s kept me going, after everything that’s happened.”

 

“Takeru…” Yusaku still couldn’t form the words that Takeru seemed to find so easily. Sparing a glance at Takeru, his eyes were filled with warmth and he could see tears prickling at the edges. He wanted to reach out and wipe them away, but he couldn’t cross that boundary. 

 

“I guess I just needed to get that off my chest...but, this isn’t about me! Sorry I went off the rails there…” He still had that soft smile as a tear rolled down his cheek. Yusaku felt his heart fill and break at the same time. 

 

“It’s fine. I’m glad you could talk to me.”

 

“The same goes for you, you know? You can tell me anything, you can’t get much worse than anything I’ve said.”

 

Yusaku bit his lip. He knew that, of course he knew that, Takeru had  _ died _ defending him, there was nothing that could tear them apart now. It was just...it was just…

 

“I...I’ve never done this before.”

 

“Huh? Done what?”

 

He didn’t know how to say it, didn’t know what to say, so he gestured with his hands, hoping that he would get his point across. “ _ This _ .”

 

Takeru paused for a moment, before realization struck. “Yusaku…” He stepped closer, but stopped himself before asking, “Can I hug you?”

 

Yusaku blinked. He didn’t know why Takeru wanted to hug him, but since it was Takeru… “Okay.”

 

Takeru wrapped his arms around Yusaku, pulling him close. Yusaku could only remember being hugged by Kusanagi-san, but that was when he was coming out of a panic attack, so he didn’t remember it that well. Meaning he wasn’t sure what to do. He could only copy Takeru’s actions, wrapping his arms around Takeru’s waist. After a moment, he felt himself relax enough to lean his forehead against Takeru’s, bumping his glasses in the process.

 

“Sorry--”

 

But Takeru’s giggle cut him off. “It’s fine, it’s fine! I forgot I was even wearing glasses!”

 

At that, he heard the sound of an Ignis emerging from a duel disk. “You lose them even when they’re on your forehead.” 

 

Takeru didn’t want to move from the position, or yell directly in Yusaku’s face, so he was forced to mumble an annoyed, “Flame…”

 

“Alright, I understand.” Flame sighed, though it was obvious he wasn’t bothered in the least. “I’ll just return to our project.” With that, he disappeared into the duel disk, and Yusaku could’ve sworn he heard Ai chuckling.

 

“Our…? Do you know…?”

 

“It’s probably nothing.” He didn’t want to think about it right now, he was satisfied resting his forehead against Takeru’s, feeling Takeru’s hands on the small of his back.

 

Of course, that didn’t last for long. They had a dinner they’d long forgotten about. Though Takeru’s grandparents didn’t. She was so quiet, they didn’t even hear the door open, but her words were unmistakable:

 

“Those city boys are charming, aren’t they? I’ll leave you two alone, just come inside when it gets dark, okay?”

 

Before they could even respond, she left, and along with her, so had that moment. Now they were both frozen, arms at their sides, faces burning. 

 

It was then, at the worst moment possible, Ai made his presence known again. “Hey, hey, Yusaku-chan, Takeru-chan!” It was that tone that Yusaku hated the most. He was beginning to regret saying it was nothing. “Look at what Flame and I made!”

 

Flame emerged right after, arms crossed and chest puffed out. “We’ve collaborated to make something amazing within only a few hours. Perhaps less if Ai had stayed focused...”

 

“I was just trying to make it perfect! Stop complaining! Anyway, look!” A screen popped up in front of them, with crude drawings of himself, Takeru, and others he couldn’t make heads or tails of. Lines were pointing in a ton of different directions. He could at least read the names, given they were typed, but he didn’t think he wanted to read them. “It’s a family tree!”

 

“A...what?”

 

“Takeru, your grades may not show it, but you must know what a family tree is.” Flame huffed. Takeru was about to interject, but Flame kept talking. “Since you and Yusaku are romantically involved now, we took it upon ourselves to link everyone together.”

 

“What?! We’re not--!”

 

“You and Yusaku-chan are married!” Ai took over before Takeru could finish his sentence. “That makes your grandparents Yusaku-chan’s in-laws! And Kusanagi is Yusaku-chan’s and Jin’s brother, making Kusanagi and Jin your in-laws! See, we’re practically family! But that would make Flame and I--”

 

“--That’s enough. Be quiet, Ai.” Yusaku’s voice betrayed any bite he wished it would have had. Ai had meant it as a joke, but his words echoed in Yusaku’s mind.  _ We’re practically family.  _ It was a joke, but Ai had done it for a reason. To remind Yusaku that he was allowed to have friends. To make his own family.

 

“...Yusaku?” Takeru was looking at him wide-eyed, face bright red. “What’s so funny?”

 

...Oh. He was laughing?

 

He was laughing.

 

But he couldn’t bring himself to stop.

 

“I think…” He managed between giggles, “I agree with Ai.”

 

“Wh-what?! But we’re not--”

 

“--We’re practically family now, aren’t we? We’ve been through hell and back together.”

 

Takeru paused, and slowly, his shock turned into happiness as well. “That’s right. You deserve to have a family. We both do.”

 

Yusaku couldn’t help the smile that reached his eyes.

 

“Besides, if there’s anyone I’d elope with, it’s you.”

**Author's Note:**

> let! yusaku! smile! and! laugh!
> 
> also im sorry for bullying takeru he's just... so easy to tease. i love him


End file.
